The Cassette Recorder
Three travelers register at a hotel and are told that their rooms will cost 10 rupees each so they pay 30 rupees. Later the clerk realizes that he made a mistake and should have only charged them 25 rupees. He gives a bellboy 5 rupees to return to them but the bellboy is dishonest and gives them each only 1 rupee, keeping 2 rupees for himself. So the men actually spent 27 rupees and the bellboy kept 2 rupees. What happened to the other dollar of the original $30 rupees?
Ah! Click here to read the solution.
There is no missing dollar from the original 30 rupees because after getting 1 rupees back, the three travelers had paid a total of 27 rupees for their room (9 each), not 30 rupees. Out of that 27 rupees, the hotel has 25 rupees and the clerk kept the remaining 2 rupees. If you still want to work from the original 30 rupees, the travelers have 3 rupees, the hotel has 25 rupees and the bellboy has 2 rupees. The misleading part is adding the bellboy’s 2 rupees to the 27 rupees, when in fact it should be subtracted.
Related Brain Teaser: